We saw that
reminding ourselves of our divine Self and repeating God’s name are the
best means to gain purity of mind. Along with these disciplines we must
consider some important factors that influence purity of mind.

Purity of food:
The
Chandogya Upanishad (7.26.2) explains the role of food in effecting purity
of mind: “When the food is pure the mind becomes pure. When the mind is
pure the memory becomes firm. When the memory is firm all ties are
loosened.” According to Sri Ramanuja, there are three kinds of defects in
food. First is the kind of food itself. Says Swami Vivekananda, “All
exciting food should be avoided, as meat, for instance….Eating meat is
only allowable for people who do very hard work, and who are not going to
be Bhaktas; but if you are going to be Bhaktas, you should avoid meat….Any
food that has been standing for days, till its condition is changed, any
food whose natural juices have been almost dried up, any food that is
malodorous, should be avoided.” Second is the person who brings the food.
In the words of Swami Vivekananda, “It is supposed that a man’s character
emanates from him, as it were, like a physical force, and whatever he
touches is affected by it. So we must take care who touches our food when
it is cooked. A wicked or immoral person must not touch it.” Third are
other instrumental causes like dirt and dust in food.

Monitoring our
senses and mind:
In explaining the above passage from the Upanishad, Sri Shankaracharya
defines food as anything that is taken in by the senses: sound, touch,
sight, taste, and smell. All these five perceptions leave impressions in
the mind, and may add to the existing impurities. So we must discriminate
about what we take in through the senses. More important are the ideas we
collect in the mind. For example, we are to be careful about what we read
and the company we keep. Besides deepening existing bad impressions, bad
ideas can revive forgotten memories, agitate the mind and the senses,
weaken our resolve, and lead us astray. Whatever produces impurities needs
to be shunned. Says Swami Vivekananda, “Anything that makes you weak
physically, intellectually, and spiritually, reject as poison; there is no
life in it, it cannot be true.”

The mind likes to be
in a state of flux and randomness. It does not like order or discipline of
any kind. Elevating thoughts do not arise in it spontaneously, only with
effort and discipline. Instead of waiting for the mind to think elevating
thoughts randomly amid so many useless thoughts, a wise seeker consciously
practices thinking higher thoughts. Says Sri Ramakrishna, “Bondage is of
the mind, and freedom is also of the mind. A man is free if he constantly
thinks: ‘I am a free soul. How can I be bound, whether I live in the world
or in the forest? I am a child of God, the King of Kings. Who can bind
me?’...By repeating with grit and determination, ‘I am not bound, I am
free’, one really becomes so─one really becomes free.”

Swami Vivekananda
explains the power of thought: “The infinite future is before you, and you
must always remember that each word, thought, and deed, lays up a store
for you, and that as the bad thoughts and bad works are ready to spring
upon you like tigers, so also there is the inspiring hope that the good
thoughts and good deeds are ready with the power of a hundred thousand
angels to defend you always and for ever.” (To be continued)